Select PB Object

Select PB Object chooses one object inside a PowerBuilder library, so that object is compared or merged on its own without being exported first. It opens from the Object… button of New Comparison, which appears beside a path only while that path names a library: a .pbl, a .pbd, or a built .exe or .dll.

The dialog lists what is in the library, with each entry's name, kind, type, size and comment. Choose an entry and the path box is filled with its container!entry address, such as orders.pbl!w_order_entry.srw: the same address the command line and the CLI take.

Compiled objects are listed and cannot be chosen: they are P-code, and pb-diff does not decompile them. See Reading PowerBuilder libraries.

When to use it depends on the comparison:

• In a three-way merge it is how one object is taken from each of three libraries, because a merge works on one object.
• In a two-way comparison two whole libraries open a Compare Summary instead, and any object in it is a double-click away. Choose an object here when you already know which one you want.

Use library objects throughout or source files throughout: New Comparison refuses a mixture before anything is compared, and in a merge every library slot needs an object chosen.